Two Pair, King High
by Penn O'Hara
Summary: Companion piece to Two Pair, Queen High. Boys' POV. Logan'Barek, Goren'Eames. The boys' reactions to the trust given them by these strong women.
1. Chapter 1

_**An Epilogue to "A Shift of Axis", in two parts. This one from the men's POV. Logan/Barek, then Goren/Eames.**_

**oOo**

**"Two Pair, King High"**

_**Copyright 2006 Penn O'Hara**_

_**T**_

_**Usual disclaimers apply.**_

_**Companion piece is "Two Pair, Queen High", the women's POV.**_

_**Timeline: Immediately after "A Shift of Axis"**_

_**A/N: Strangely enough, with the same scene, the men had a LOT more to think about. I found that quite interesting. So much for women being the emotional heavy-weights when it comes to love and relationships! **_

**oOo**

**_The men's POV…_ **

**Concentrating hard on the keys in front of him, Logan was giving himself a headache trying to find the words needed to sum up the day's events without giving away any personal involvement on the part of both himself and Barek.**

**It wasn't necessary to mention he had not only dated Judge Haynes' daughter in his youth, but bedded her and been thrown out of their house on his ear, but what reason could he give for going back alone to the Haynes' family home today, at his partner's insistence, to capitalize on a previous relationship and subsequently been drugged so that Alicia might 'kidnap' him for her own personal indulgence. It sounded like a farce and his headache just got worse.**

**Logan heard and felt Carolyn thump her elbows onto her desk, the vibration running through to his own. The action was accompanied by a heavy sigh, convincing him she must be having the same difficulty explaining her side of the case. **

**Aware of her now, Logan found himself thinking more about her than the report he should be writing. Without looking up, his mind-eye recalled what she looked like in the long-sleeved top that accentuated her breasts and the snug trousers that hugged her ass and hips so deliciously. **

**Before they checked back into the station to write up their reports, Deakins had insisted they go home to change. Goren's t-shirt had been ripped in two by the time the medics finished with him and Logan had been covered in Alicia's blood. He even went as far as throwing the whole suit into the garbage after he'd showered. He was ambivalent about Alicia's death. He'd been livid with her for drugging him, but to have her die in his arms like that…**

**Mentally shaking himself, he let the cop in him kick in and separate his emotions from the job. It was the only way he could operate – get past the horrific closure to the day and move on.**

**Carolyn sighed again. **

**And that's to where Logan believed he was moving. The sex with her in the locker room had been incredible and he briefly allowed himself the fantasy of being able to do that with her again, before centering his thoughts back on his report. **

**A third sigh from her had him looking up without raising his head, amused.**

**"That's the third sigh in almost as many seconds," he said. "What's up?"**

**He caught her closely watching him and wondered at the deepening of the color in her cheeks. With her skin tone, she didn't blush easily, but that looked suspiciously like a hot flush.**

**Her eyes didn't waver from his. "I just wish we were anywhere else than stuck here at our desks," she said.**

**_That's two of us_, Logan thought, but he was glad she couldn't read his mind. If Barek knew he was weighing the chances of being able to fuck her again in the near future, she would probably draw her revolver and shoot him on the spot. **

**But there was no harm in teasing her in fun about it. "We? You including me in that fantasy?"**

**Carolyn smiled. "Sure am." **

**_Whoa! Now, that's a healthy start_. And he liked her smile better than her usual look of scorn in his direction. Logan never understood why he seemed to annoy her so much and yet last night… _Wow, last night!_ Maybe if he could interest her in a romantic dinner, and ordered red wine instead of beer, he might be able to make it a twofer. **

**He rested his wrists on the edge of the laptop. "Where did you have in mind?" **

**"Well…" Carolyn paused and Logan's gut tightened in suspense. "I just finished reliving our workout in the locker room and was in the process of imagining you in my bed or me in yours. What do you think?" **

**_Yi-ha! _Logan's brows shot up and his heart kicked against his ribs_. Settle down, big fella. She's probably just kidding you. Yanking your chain. Play it cool, man, way cool. _**

**"You got a girly bed, by any chance?" Logan was happy with his evasive response, not committing himself either way until he knew the lay of the land.**

**"Girly bed? Define 'girly'."**

**Logan's brows knitted at the indignant look on her face. He'd done wrong somehow, playing cool not being such a good idea after all. But he'd jumped in with both feet and had to either sink or swim. Thinking hard, he came up with what he hoped was a life raft.**

**"Lacy bedspread. Lotsa pillows. Pink bed lamps…" **

**Carolyn sat back in her chair, and the look on her face _had_ to be mock horror. Of course she wasn't the sort of woman to surround herself with pink. In fact, Logan knew, through a reliable source, exactly what she _did_ have in her bedroom. **

**"Do I look like a woman who has pink bed lamps?" **

**Throwing caution to the wind, Logan entered into the game. He looked her over, hanging back with his answer, then relented. "Nah. You look like you've got muted ceiling spotties…track lighting even…brown and cream comforter with chocolate sheets, a firm mattress and a coupla silk scarves in the drawer beside your bed." **

**Eames never said anything about the mattress or scarves, but Logan couldn't resist throwing them in to see how Carolyn would react.**

**"_Shit!_" Barek threw back her chair, scrabbling to save her cup of coffee before it spilt over her report. "How did you–!"**

**Logan laughed and went back to his typing. He enjoyed throwing her for a loop like that – a little revenge for the trauma she put him through last night, _before_ the mind-blowing sex.**

**"Mike…" Carolyn hissed. "_How did you know?_"**

**Logan ignored her, concentrating on the keyboard in front of him. It probably cost him the romantic dinner, let alone the hoped-for fucking afterward, but now that he'd begun, his inner devil couldn't resist keeping the teasing going.**

**Leaving her chair, Barek rounded the desk and lowered the lid of his laptop. Logan got his fingers out just in time, and he figured she was now going to make him pay for teasing her, but, depending on the method of payment, it just might be worth it. **

**"How do you know about the scarves?" she asked.**

**Logan looked up into her face, held her shocked eyes for an instant, then his humor evaporated as his awareness of her proximity kicked in. He could actually feel the heat of her body reaching out to him, smell the deep exotic perfume she liked to wear and his groin tightened with interest. Cocking his head to the side, he let his eyelids lower as he gazed at the rapid rise and fall of her breasts. For her breathing to quicken like that, it might be anger at him, or it could be that she too was feeling aroused.**

**"Eames told me about the lights and bed linen." Logan lowered his voice so that others couldn't hear, hoping Carolyn wouldn't realize how disturbed he was. "The scarves I guessed." **

**Barek went to swat him but he caught her wrist in his and held, massaging the pulse that hammered under her delicate skin. Logan didn't mind her taking a swipe at him. He now recognized it as a good sign, an indication that she _was_ as aware of him as he was of her. The hope that he was somehow affecting her, flourished. **

**"You get to belt me _after_ sex, Barek, not before." Logan meant it to be a joke but as soon as he said it, he realized how very serious he was.**

**"Let's go," she breathed. "I want to see you naked on those chocolate sheets, Logan." **

**_That's it, _he thought, _all gloves are off. _If she's not giving him a come-on now, then it wasn't his fault if things got messy. He was going to pursue her invitation, serious or not, and see where it got him.**

**His mouth curved in a slow grin. "What about the paperwork?" he asked, giving her one final exit. If she didn't take it and run, he was going to do his damnedest to have her before the night was done.**

**Carolyn looked round the office, and Logan wondered if she were looking for a way out there. He waited, giving her the time, because it would be the last chance she got.**

**"It'll be here tomorrow morning," she said. "If there's one constant in my workday, I know it's the paperwork." **

**Having this crazy urge that he wanted to be a fixture in her life too, Logan was unsure what to make of his revelation.**

**"Hey, there's a second constant now," he said, eyes wide and pointing to his chest. "Me!" And this was his last attempt at humor before sweeping this woman off her feet.**

**"Ooooh, yeah," Carolyn smiled. "So get your nice buns out of that chair and take me home!" **

**Logan wasn't waiting for her to change her mind. He pushed back his chair, and bent from his waist, sweeping a hand before him. His eyes locked on hers, deadly serious as they dared her to back out now.**

_**oOo**_

**Looking round Carolyn's apartment, Logan was impressed by the rich, old world feel of it. There were antiques everywhere and judging by some of the knocks and scrapes on them, they were originals. He wasn't surprised though. He never took Carolyn for a girly girl, despite his earlier teasing. He noted with particular interest the long oval table that looked both sturdy and incredibly smooth. Unbidden, a picture came to his mind's eye, of Carolyn naked and lying on its highly polished surface. He imagined the feel of her under him, sliding back and forth with his rhythm…**

**He almost moaned as Carolyn wrapped her arms around him from behind, pushing her body against his. He expected her to offer him a drink or something first – she'd already nixed his idea of dinner out during the drive here, assuring him she had plenty of food in her fridge – but maybe she intended to bypass the food altogether.**

**"The bed's five paces forward and ten paces west through the second door on the left," she said, her voice muffled. **

**That solved that dilemma. It was fun first and food later. Logan smiled in satisfaction at the way she took the guesswork out of it for him. Totally opposite to last night when she had taken control, she was handing him the power tonight and he liked that. Give and take. It augured well for their future as a couple.**

**Logan turned in her arms, sliding his hands over her back and pulling her to him. He was already aroused and didn't mind her knowing it. He bent his head to chase that elusive perfume she wore, searching her neck for its source. **

**Something occurred to him though. **

**"We haven't done it in a bed yet," he murmured, his sense of power growing with the shudders that wracked her body. **

**Feeling her hands steal under his coat and explore his back, he heard her murmur something about not needing a bed before she pulled his head to hers and offered her mouth. His body was straining for hers, but he was determined to bank it this time. The first time last night it had happened too quickly. He intended to draw out tonight for all it was worth. _Every _time.**

**His mouth driving into her, Logan lost himself in the heady taste of her and her frantic response. She dropped her weight into him and he took it, swinging her easily into his arms. The image of that huge dining table came to him and he headed toward it, not lifting his mouth from hers as he walked. Lying her flat on its polished surface, he pulled back to gaze upon her disheveled sexiness, ripped his coat from his back, and smiled in anticipation of taking her at least twice there before worrying about a bed.**

**"Then let's not bother with one now," he said.**

**oOo**

**Although aware of Alex watching him, Goren continued to write, getting the facts on paper with a speed that prevented him from dwelling on the futility of the day's events. Everything he'd endured, and put Alex through, had been negated because he once again couldn't bring Nicole to justice. Justice? He just wanted to see her dead, denied forever the opportunity of tormenting her next victim. **

**"Let's call it a night, Bobby," Alex said, sounding tired and dispirited.**

**Goren had wanted her to leave a good hour ago but through misguided loyalty she had opted to stay back with him. For that reason alone, he should throw this in and go home, but his apartment was the last place in which he wanted to be.**

**He kept his head down, and waved her off. She didn't deserve his rudeness, but she was better off without him, and if he had to be cruel to be kind... **

**"You go," he mumbled. "I wanna finish up here." Despite the ache in his wounded arm, he kept on writing. The effort needed to keep going was making the ache worse but that pain was better than the agony of examining his inadequacies. _How could you let Nicole get away? Again? You had her so close and you let her slip through your fingers again._**

**"Bobby," Alex snapped, finished with being nice about it. "Your shoulder has to be killing you, but you insist–"**

**Goren cringed. He knew she was only looking out for him, but he couldn't face her with his failure right now. She had looked to him to protect her, and he had vowed to give her closure from Nicole and her breed of sadism, but he hadn't been able to deliver. He not only fell short of his own expectations, but let down Alex as well. **

**"I'm fine. I'll be fine," he said. But he wasn't. He knew it and he knew she did too.**

**"No, you're not!" Alex grabbed the file he was working on and pulled it out from under him. A paper slid off to the side but he ignored it, concentrating on the scuffed wood of his desk.**

**"Alex, don't–" He still couldn't face her.**

**"Don't what? Don't remind you that I exist?"**

_**No! That's not it at all!**_

**"Don't remind you of what happened between us today?" **

**_How could I ever forget? How can I go home and lie awake at night and not relive every moment of it? The degradation and the _ecstasy_ of it?_**

**"Don't make you face that things are different between us now?" Alex leaned over his desk and Goren tried not to shrink from her understandable disillusionment of him.**

**"Because whether you like or not, they are."**

**Goren knew nothing would ever be the same again. He now knew what he only guessed before. That Alex was a deeply passionate and giving woman who needed a man to understand and respect her and when that happened, the rewards were immense. But it wouldn't be him. He had failed her like other men before him and she didn't deserve another failure.**

**"Look at me."**

**He couldn't, instead watching his fingers twirl the pen in his hand.**

**"_Bobby, look at me!_"**

**He lifted his head, despite not wanting her to see his humiliation, but unable to deny her any longer. Maybe if she could see how deeply sorry he was, she would somehow forgive him. She might even understand that right now he couldn't face his apartment, where it had all began.**

**Forced to go home to change after the medics finished with him, he had stood in his living room interminably, wondering if he could have prevented Nicole's abduction of them. Showering made him relive that passionate moment with Alex, when their clothes had been no barrier to the desperate need within them. Seeing his bed, he remembered their ultimate exquisite union, tainted by Nicole's ridicule. His apartment either reminded him of how Nicole had subjugated him or how he had failed Alex.**

**"I can't go back–" he said, hoping she'd understand.**

**"I know. We can't," Alex said quickly. "I wouldn't want to–" **

**Goren shook his head. "I can't go back home. Tonight. Yet. She was there… with evil on her mind and in her heart. Because of me, she…hurt…_you_."**

**Alex' shoulders dropped, the emotions chasing themselves so rapidly across her face, Goren couldn't read them.**

**"Then come home with me," she said, her voice raw with sympathy. **

**The last thing he wanted was for her to feel sorry for him. **

**"You can sleep on the couch, the floor, whatever. You don't need to go back there until you're ready. But you gotta get some rest, Bobby. We both do." She straightened, looking determined. "I won't go home and leave you here. You threw yourself in front of a bullet for me and now you want to work yourself into a grave. I won't let you do it, Bobby."**

**Goren rose out of his chair, unaware he was doing it. Despite his vow to keep her shielded from his misery, he found himself responding to her plea with a kind of pathetic hope. **

**"We'll do this together, Bobby," she promised.**

**_Were it that easy, _he thought.**

**oOo**

**Goren walked into Alex' apartment and it felt like coming home. He'd been here before and each time he had been amused at her disorder and strangely comforted by it. He was glad she had a place where she could unwind from a day of being at his beck and call, constantly picking up his loose ends and weaving them into a cohesive theory for him to run with. **

**He gazed round and wished he too had a haven.**

**"Sit down, Bobby." **

**Looking for a surface that wasn't cluttered, Goren opted for the couch even though it was strewn with magazines and remotes. She picked up one of each, clearing him a space and he collected the rest into a manageable pile before putting them on the floor at his feet. **

**"Sorry about the mess…"**

**"It doesn't matter." Nothing so trivial would ever matter again. Alex looked uncomfortable standing in front of him and although wishing she would sit down, he didn't feel he had the right to order her around in her own apartment.**

**"Your arm okay?" she asked. "Don't want a new bandage? You shouldn't have been using it so much back at the station." She bent forward to check the dressing.**

**"No, thanks, it's fine." He didn't care. He could barely feel any discomfort in his arm, his pain centering in his heart.**

**"Coffee, then?"**

**A flash of memory tormented him. His abandoning his coffee-making last night and striding into his living room with the decision to take Alex in his arms and make her his. Instead, Nicole's hateful face and taunting threats were waiting for him.**

**"I'm sorry," Alex said.**

**Goren couldn't bear for her to vilify herself. None of it had been her fault. "Alex," he said, his hand appealing to her. "Come…come and sit down."**

**She hesitated, as if it were the last thing she wanted to do. Surely she knew he would never touch her without her permission, nor do anything without her first asking it of him.**

**Finally sitting, she still didn't look comfortable nor had she taken his hand. Goren started to withdraw it but Alex finally put her fingers in his. He stroked them, relieved at this small sign of trust.**

**"If you didn't want me here, you should…should have left me at the station," he said, convinced she was regretting her invitation but didn't know how to tactfully throw him out. **

**"No." Alex hung her head. "That's not it at all. I want you here. I'm just not sure _you_ want to be here."**

**He touched her cheek in awe. "When have you known me to do something I don't… want to do?"**

**Alex' eyes widened and Bobby nodded, realizing she was thinking of what they'd gone through together. "There was that, of course. I…I was forced into that, but…" He remembered how wonderful she had felt beneath him, how trusting she had been of his ability to get her through the abomination. "I wasn't exactly doing something I didn't want to do. When presented with the, er, opportunity…I wanted to just keep on doing it." He smiled, hoping she wouldn't think less of him for admitting that.**

**"And now?" **

**Goren froze. There seemed to be such need within her simple question. Could she possibly want to keep him as her lover? **

**"You know as well as I…that it would be…unprofessional–" Watching her reaction carefully, he tried not to give away how desperately he wanted her.**

**"I know." **

**Knowing every nuance of her face, Goren saw her disappointment before she could hide it. His hope soared. "–and that…personal relationships at work are, er, tricky at best and–" **

**"They are." **

**He took courage in her resigned sigh. She wasn't looking for a way out, but maybe, just maybe, hoping for something more. "–if anyone got wind of it, there would be–" **

**"–hell to pay." **

**Alex fidgeted on the couch, probably wishing he would get to his point, but he was afraid. Afraid of the rejection that had seemed inevitable.**

**"Well, we would be brought before Deakins and forced to, uh, account for ourselves and–" **

**"–he'd put a stop to it." She pulled her hands out of his grasp, so deflated it was a tangible thing that tugged at his heart. She _did_ want him. Incredibly, she wanted him.**

**"He'd probably transfer us," Goren ventured. So…" _How would you feel, Alex? Is your career worth throwing away to be with me on a personal level? _**

**"This is it then." Alex threw up her chin and took a deep breath. "We stay professional. We stay good friends and a good working team and part company at the end of the day–"**

_**No! That's not what he wanted! **_

**Tapping an inner well of courage, it was Goren's turn to interrupt her. "–or we be discreet." **

**He said it, as close to admitting his feelings as he could bring himself, risking being discarded by this woman as he had been by his father.**

**Alex looked shocked. "Huh?"**

**Goren pulled her gently closer toward him, forcing down his fear. "I can be…discreet, Alex. Can you?" **

**He held his breath. She would either laugh in his face or throw him out, or both. But before she did, he would have one last kiss to take with him, to cherish when he was again alone.**

**Goren tentatively touched his lips to hers and felt Alex sag against him in acceptance. The relief that swept through his body made him light-headed. She wasn't going to push him away, to send him home or tell him to get over it. Instead, Alex rewarded him by moving closer, giving him permission to fold her to him. **

**Given that inch, he couldn't stop his hands taking the extra liberty of sliding under her shirt, drawn to the heat of her skin and the warm softness of her breasts. The promise of her body drove sanity from his mind, his kiss seeking more, demanding and desperate to draw her into him. **

**Sliding down onto the couch, he brought her down with him, settling her onto his frame, wanting to feel every inch of her. Needing to let her have free rein of his body too, he pulled her hands to him and underneath his clothes and then nearly lost it at the feel of her eager fingers exploring his chest and waist. **

**Wanting more, Goren grabbed her shirt in his hands and dragged it up over her head so that he could feel her skin against his. He groaned in frustration, unable to get enough of her, but she squirmed on top of him. Mortified he was doing something she didn't desire, he froze.**

**"What's wrong?" he murmured into the hollow of her throat. "Did I hurt you?"**

**"No, nothing," she groaned. "I'm just trying…to avoid your injury."**

**"It's only a small wound. Don't worry so much about it." Emboldened by her admission, he let his mouth follow the line of her throat down to her now exposed breasts, aching to taste them. To cover an incredibly intimate moment, for him, he thought to make a joke. "I thought you might be…avoiding my, er, big gun."**

**Alex made a strangled sound and pulled away sharply. "Bobby! Are you trying to be…_funny?_"**

**He groaned. Instead, he'd made a complete ass of himself. "I didn't succeed, did I?"**

**"At a time like this," she said aghast, "no, you didn't succeed." Alex supported her weight on her arms and gazed down at him.**

**He died inside, hoping like hell she would forget he said anything.**

**"Keep the humor for parties, Bobby," she said.**

**That confused him. "But I don't go to–"**

**"I'm sure you don't." From the heavy-lidded look on her face and sexy smile, Goren deduced she was merely teasing him. "Now, enough talk. You were in the middle of something I believe."**

**_My lord!_ She was going to let him continue. He couldn't believe his incredible fortune. "Mmmm, I was. In the middle of two very delectable…" He pulled her back down to him, hoping she realized he was never going to let her go now. "Ah, yes, here they are…"**

**Every delightful inch of her would be explored by him while he had the chance and he was going to start right there…**

**oOo**

_**Coming up… more light-hearted moments in "Extracurricular Pursuits".**_


	2. Chapter 2

**"Two Pair, King High"**

_**Copyright 2006 Penn O'Hara**_

_**M**_

_**Usual disclaimers apply.**_

**Previously on "Two Pair, King High" **

_**"We haven't done it in a bed yet," Logan murmured, his sense of power growing with the shudders that wracked Carolyn's body. **_

_**Feeling her hands steal under his coat and explore his back, he heard her murmur something about not needing a bed before she pulled his head to hers and offered her mouth. His body was straining for hers, but he was determined to bank it this time. The first time last night it had happened too quickly. He intended to draw out tonight for all it was worth. Every time.**_

_**His mouth driving into her, Logan lost himself in her heady taste and frantic response. She dropped her weight into him and he took it, swinging her easily into his arms. The image of that huge dining table came to him and he headed toward it, not lifting his mouth from hers as he walked. Lying her flat on its polished surface, he pulled back to gaze upon her disheveled sexiness, ripped his coat from his back, and smiled in anticipation of taking her at least twice there before worrying about a bed.**_

_**"Then let's not bother with one now," he said.**_

_**Chapter Two**_

**Logan was amazed at how much Carolyn could take and still ask for more. Although he had her on her oval dining room table, he had begun by treating her with the gentleness as if he had a young virgin in a bed, but Carolyn's hands, legs and moans egged him on, encouraging him to pick up the pace and push her to find her limit.**

**Her back was protected from the friction of the table's richly gleaming surface by his crossed arms underneath her. Her heels, which had at first braced her against his thrusts on the wooden surface, were now wrapped around his waist and her fingernails had finally released their grip on his flanks and were raking up and down his naked back.**

**The intensity of it and Carolyn's capacity to absorb him and demand more, was filling Logan with a potency that kicked his stamina beyond his normal capabilities.**

**"Mikeeeeeee!"**

**Her body froze under him but her muscles around him rippled and grabbed and pummeled him, so that he had to bite down to hold it back. There was no way he was going to end it yet. Alternating between hissing through his teeth and taking in great gulps of air, Logan rode her release, giving her those moments to savor the experience before he began again.**

**"Carolyn, honey," he gritted, "you feel too good. You're killin' me."**

**"It's…huh…oh…kay," she gasped. "I'm finished. You can–"**

**"No way, baby," he said, smiling, "you're nowhere near finished."**

**Bracing his knees and shifting his weight backward, Logan pulled Carolyn with him so that she was sitting on his thighs, her legs still wrapped around his waist. Her eyes were wide with wonder and he grinned wider, rubbing a hand down her back, pressing her to his chest. She was as light as a feather; he could hold her like this all night but she fit him so closely he feared he would explode. **

**Burying his face in her neck, Logan breathed in her scent, exotic and steamy from their lovemaking. Beginning a gentle stroke, he immediately bit his lip at the rekindled surge of feeling. His pleasure, so near to the surface, was almost painful. Jerking up his chin, eyes wide, he was desperate to focus on something to divert his mind from the exquisiteness of Carolyn gripping him. **

**Logan came face to face with their reflection.**

**"Shit!"**

**Carolyn moaned. "Whaa…t…s'wrong?"**

**He gazed upon the image of them naked and locked as one. "You've got this…_huge_…mirror hangin' on the wall," he said in wonder.**

**"It'ssss…an antique." Carolyn bit his earlobe and breathed moistly into his ear.**

**Logan groaned in response, shutting his eyes briefly, before they opened again to fasten on the mirror. The tousled, dazed look on his face shocked Logan. _He_ was the one who was supposed to reduce his partner to lovesick sappiness, not the other way round.**

**He swallowed with difficulty, shut his eyes on the portrait of her long hair streaming down her back, arms hugging his shoulders and firm buttocks perched on his thighs, and mustered the strength within him to stroke powerfully into her. His teeth gritted with the force needed to bite down on his own release. Heaving in a breath, he tried again and swore, but kept going, finally locking onto a rhythm that took every ounce of energy to keep a cap on it but succeeded in maintaining his sanity.**

**Opening his eyes again, he focused on the image of them together, amazed at the erotic beauty of it. She was so small and delicate against the bulging muscles of his arms and shoulders, her hair draped over his arm like a curtain. Her cheek was pressed against his chest, her pants stirring the dark hair there; their bodies undulating in perfect harmony. **

**The voyeurism of the scene tore at him first before a new, more intense feeling overtook it. He suddenly felt protective of her, wanting to keep her in his arms, keep her close, and safe, and more amazing still, wanting to never again have any other woman like this. **

**"Carolyn…"**

**"Hmmm?…Aaaah…" She started to lift her chin to look at him then threw her head back, the vulnerable line of her throat making him want to hold her even closer.**

**He felt her muscles ripple over him again, but, watching their reflection, it was as if it were happening to someone else. He was too consumed by the perfection of their joining, awed by the way Carolyn melded with him so absolutely.**

**"_Miiiiiiike!_" **

**She shouted to the ceiling, and the cry that would normally fill him with a smug confirmation of his expertise, this time, made him fiercely determined that, from now on, his would be the only man's name on her lips.**

**He turned his head away from their reflection and kissed her, swallowing her scream with his mouth, sealing his determination that she was his. Carolyn shuddered into him, her body limp, and he held her tenderly, raining kisses on her face and neck, to the curve of her shoulder.**

**"Carolyn…" he said again, against her skin.**

**She didn't answer, still gasping through her release, and the encouragement he needed – a lift of her head, a small smile from her lips or a look of tenderness from her eyes – to tell her, to admit that she was the one, wasn't offered.**

**The fleeting moment passed.**

**Logan flayed himself for his cowardice, then berated himself for going soft. A woman – his women – didn't want him soft. They wanted him virile and able to give them a good time they wouldn't forget.**

**Lifting Carolyn from his lap with the ease of picking off a slumbering puppy, he flipped her around and supported her on her hands and knees, her eyes facing the mirror.**

**"Look," he grinned, back in his comfort zone of playful lover. "I seem to remember you scoffing about a mirror above my bed? What do you call that?"**

**Carolyn forced her breathing under control before she answered him, gazing into the mirror. "I usually eat…off this table, Mike, not fuck on it. It was never…designed nor intended to reflect this sort of scene."**

**Logan chuckled. "Well, we're gonna forge new territory here then, aren't we?" **

**Pressing his fingers slightly into the flesh beside her neck, he brought his hands down her spine making her involuntarily stretch, her chin to the ceiling. Her body perfectly placed for him, he slid into her again, thighs quivering as his hips framed her from behind. He smoothed his hands under her, one sliding up her belly to cup a breast, the other lingering low, stimulating her.**

**Carolyn's groan was echoed by his as he moved within her, his hips powering and locking and retreating again before the next guided assault. The pressure was building within him again, threatening to blow. Aware his control was slipping, Logan focused again on the mirror, forcing his mind from the volatility of feeling to deliberate analysis of his performance.**

**But he was unprepared for what he saw. He looked past the image of two people indulging themselves on a tabletop, the female naked and nubile, the male dominant and leading her into the culmination of their passion. Instead, he saw a beautiful woman giving herself up boldly with an instinctive trust and a man, himself, accepting that trust with respect and admiration. **

**Mike couldn't remember the last woman he'd taken to his bed with genuine respect. It overwhelmed and astounded him, breaking his rhythm, his hands gentling. He bent forward to place tender kisses on her back before laying his cheek against her skin, breathing deeply, eyes closed.**

**"Mike?" Carolyn asked, tentatively.**

**She was wondering what was wrong; why he had stopped. Nothing was wrong; everything was right. He sighed with pure delight, exploring the newness of how he was feeling, sampling its rareness and holding it close to him. **

**"Mike?" Carolyn sounded confused now, but he wasn't. He was so sure of this, being with her and for her; more sure than ever before in his life.**

**Logan turned his head from her warmth and straightened, smiling to himself. Looking again into the mirror, he fixed his gaze on the symmetry of her features, the heavy allure of darkened eyes, the abandon of parted lips and hovering tongue, the exquisite curve of firm breasts. Beginning slowly with a sure thrust and delicious retreat, he picked up his rhythm, taking her along with him on this delectable exploration of their mutual passion. **

**A passion that fused, expanded and overtook them.**

**oOo**

**Riding high on a crest of intense rapture, Goren held Alex aloft, his hands spanning her waist, fingers caressing her ribs as she rode him on her couch, tossing her head.**

**She'd begun by playfully insisting she be the dominant partner and he'd humored her, not expecting her versatility or flexibility on such a confined surface. She'd taken him to the edge several times already, denying him his release at the last minute, then apologizing gently with kisses and sweet words of love.**

**Lulling him into a tender place, she started tantalizing him again with her mouth and busy hands and what little coherent thought left to him was devoted to admiring her soft and slick body above him.**

**But he was at the end of his tether now, his head fit to burst along with his body. He wanted to take control but didn't want to deny Alex her game. His tormented frustration was worth the satisfied curve of her mouth and elated gleam in her eyes.**

**"Alex," he pleaded, "you're gonna have to let me–"**

**She joyously smiled and bent over him, her tongue tip running up his belly, over his chest, her mouth stopping with a playful nip on his chin. "What's up, Bobby? Besides the obvious." **

**"Witch."**

**"If you've finished with the name-calling, I'll continue."**

**"Please do."**

**Linking her fingers with his and capturing them on both sides of the pillow below his head, Alex pushed herself upright, biting her lip as she gave a playful wriggle. **

**Watching her through slitted eyes, Goren wanted to focus on her look of pleasure but the way she was manipulating him now shot his concentration to hell. He hissed through grinding teeth, groaning out loud as she increased her tempo, rocking on his hips with frenzied abandon.**

**Squeezing his eyes shut, Goren held it together by sheer willpower, then was rewarded by her gurgling call of triumph. Her body spasming on his was the last straw. Goren joined her shout with a howl of his own as he exploded within her and quickly pulled her down to his chest, to cradle her in tight reverence as she milked him. Chest heaving, he took in gulps of air, absorbing her shudders.**

**Riding the tremors, he rubbed his cheek against the top of her head where it lay on his chest. Her breathing ragged, her body was vibrating against his, warming his flesh where she lay. **

**"Alex, that was…"**

**"Yes?" she murmured.**

**"I love the way…"**

**"Yes?" **

**"Hell, I can't think..."**

**"The Great Goren unable to think! That's all the encouragement I need," she laughed. He smiled against her hair. Minutes passed as he lay there, enjoying having her here like this, her limbs draped over his, fingers soft against his chest. She'd rode him and drained him and now appeared to be sleeping softly, her breath barely stirring against his skin. **

**He envied her relaxation. **

**Already, the day's events were clamoring through his head. The frustration of Nicole upping the ante in their ongoing duel, then disappearing again. Always disappearing. The ignominy of her forcing his hand with Alex, even though he was going to finally declare his hand before Nicole had…**

**He shivered and Alex stirred.**

**"You cold?" she mumbled.**

**"No. Not any more," he said and meant it. He would never be the same again.**

**"Then you are thinking again. What about?"**

**He shifted slightly and pulled her closer. "Now…is not the time."**

**Alex pulled sharply away. "I want to know, Bobby. Tell me."**

**He was angry that Nicole was still making his life miserable, now coming between Alex and he in such an intimate moment.**

**"Nicole–"**

**Alex sat up, her arms folded across her chest. "You're thinking about that woman at a time like this?"**

**He forced his eyes to soften, to plead with her to understand. "She… sometimes thinking about her malevolence consumes me. I'm not going to sit back and…and wait for her to play havoc with our lives again. Especially now. There's too much at stake. Too much damage she can do."**

**Alex nodded. "She's the only one who knows what went down at the estate. She could anonymously tell the department at any time."**

**"No, it's not that. We could still…argue we were coerced." He ran his hands up her sides, fingers trembling against the velvet of her flesh. "No, I fear for your safety, Alex. Nicole wanted you dead. To hurt me. I still believe her to be a threat. We…we have to be proactive in bringing her to justice, not wait for her next crime."**

**"How?"**

**"Pull in favors. Send out alerts to all Precincts. _We find her_ this time."**

**"Bobby…I…" Alex wrapped her arms around herself. "You're right. We find her. We lock her up and throw away the key."**

**Goren held her gaze with his own and nodded. **

**He knew she would understand.**

**oOo**

_**A/N: That's it for Two Pair, King High. I just wanted to get the male perspective on making these women their own. Bobby, being Bobby, had to get back to reality too soon though. That's the curse of the thinking mind. **_

_**This segues into "Extracurricular Pursuits", Chapter 3 of same coming up.**_


End file.
